Football Game of the Week: Lawrence-Hightstown High matchup critical to NJSIAA playoffs

Martin Griff/The TimesHightstown High head coach Pete Brescia walks the sideline during a recent game.

LAWRENCE — As a high school football coach, you want to be playing meaningful games in mid-October.

It can’t get more meaningful, critical, pressure-packed and playoff-critical than this week’s game between Hightstown (2-3), ranked No. 7 in The Times’ top 10, and No. 10 Lawrence (3-2). The Rams and Cardinals square off at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

With both programs walking the sectional playoff tightrope — Lawrence is seventh in Central Jersey Group III and Hightstown is No. 8 in CJ IV with three weeks to go — the winner keeps its playoff foothold ... the loser doesn’t.

“It is absolutely a must-win game for us,” said Hightstown head coach Pete Brescia, whose team has given up 57 points in two straight losses. “I’ve done the calculations. If we lose, we’ll be playing a consolation game, and we don’t want to be involved in one of those.”

“In theory we can lose this game, win our next two and still get in,” said Lawrence coach Rob Radice, whose team has scored 84 points in two consecutive victories. “At this point, we just want to keep playing good football.”

Lawrence has a tad more room for error than Hightstown does. The Cardinals (39 power points) are behind No. 6 Holmdel (3-2, 42 points) and ahead of Ocean Township (3-2, 36 points) and Lakewood (3-1, 33 points). It has Willingboro and Northern Burlington after the Hightstown game and neither will be easy to defeat.

Ocean has Long Branch, Wall and Freehold Boro left before the cutoff — two of those winnable. Lakewood has Jackson Liberty, Central Regional and Barnegat left — none of them easy. Holmdel plays Red Bank Catholic, Manasquan and St. John Vianney and probably will lose all three. That’s why a victory for Lawrence would be critical to its playoff hopes.

“We didn’t think we’d be in this spot,” Lawrence quarterback Nick Falkenberg said. “But this is a game we need to win.”

Hightstown sits in the final playoff spot with 37 points. One point back is Middletown South (3-1). Middletown South has remaining games against Freehold Township, Marlboro, Red Bank Catholic and Colts Neck before qualification. The Eagles figured to win at least two of those games. They will receive a bevy of points if they beat Colts Neck in Week 8.

“Every game gets more important as the season goes on, but there is no question this is a must-win game for us,” Hightstown quarterback Dustin Kollman said. “We weren’t able to finish games against Notre Dame and Steinert. This week we need to be mentally sharp and to execute.”

Believing his Rams team was mentally and emotionally spent after crushing losses to Notre Dame (19-16) and Steinert (46-38) the last two weeks, Brescia limited practiced on Tuesday.

“We did nothing but basics for 2 hours and 20 minutes,” Brescia said. “We don’t have a bye week, we played five brutal, physical games, and I think we were mentally fatigued. We took it easy Tuesday, and we had a great practice Wednesday.”

Brescia needs the spark to return to his defensive unit. The Rams allowed no more that 16 points in their first four games but were lit up by Steinert.

Beverly Schaefer/For The TimesLawrence High football head coach Rob Radice.

Lawrence, however, is a team that can put up points in bunches. In three wins, the Cardinals have scored 33, 49 and 35 points. They have put together back-to-back wins after consecutive losses in Weeks 2 and 3 to Florence (21-14) and Burlington Township (29-14).

When healthy, Lawrence boasts one of the most balanced attacks in Mercer County. The Cardinals have rushed for 1,310 yards, with just one game fewer than 200 yards, and passed for 553 yards, including four straight games of 100 yards or more. Falkenberg has set the pace for Lawrence the past two weeks. He has completed 12 of 18 passes for 375 yards without an interception.

Both teams have big-play ability. Falkenberg threw a school-record, 88-yard TD pass earlier this season, and Rams returner Kevin Lenart brought back a kickoff 98 yards.
“I think it’s going to be an extremely physical game,’’ Radice said. “I think the kids on both teams are really going to get after each other.”